It's tough to win a tennis match when your team is down 2-0 before it has even begun.
That was the story for Northern Illinois University, as they were forced to compete with only four players as Ball State University (8-9, 2-3 Mid-American Conference) defeated the Huskies 7-0.
With two players sick and one injured, NIU had to forfeit their No. 3 doubles match and No. 5 and 6 singles. Ball State coach Kathy Bull said it appeared her squad came out flat because of that scenario.
"I didn't feel like we had the typical intensity that we usually have so I was a little bit worried," Bull said. "So I gave [assistant coach Larissa Chinwah] the task to get on the No. 1 [doubles] team and I got on the No. 2 team a little bit. That was a big concern of mine for awhile."
After winning all three doubles matches, two of the Cardinals' singles players won easily. No. 2 Jennifer Pollack throttled Doris Delgadillo 6-1, 6-0, and No. 4 Katie Owens defeated Chrissy Nagel 6-3, 6-0.
All of those matches were completed at the Cardinal Creek Tennis Center. With rain swooping in, the final two matches were played at the YMCA Tennis Center.
Those two matches went to super tiebreakers. At No. 1 singles, Jessica Thompson won the first set 6-2, but dropped the second set to freshman Jenny Edner by the same score to force the super tiebreaker.
A super tiebreaker is played in lieu of a third set when the team outcome of the match has already been determined so that the singles match can be finished faster. The first player to get to ten points wins the match, with the players alternating serves after an odd number of points (1,3,5, etc).
Thompson defeated Edner 10-6 after Thompson smacked a cross-court forehand down the left baseline.
At No. 3 singles, Haly Calderwood came from behind in defeating Megan Brooks. Brooks had a 5-2 lead in the first set before Calderwood came back to take a 6-5 lead. But Brooks forced a first-set tiebreak and won the first set 7-6. In the second set, Calderwood used the momentum from the end of the first set and won 6-3, forcing another super tiebreaker.
"When we moved indoors, it helped me," Calderwood said. "She had a slice backhand that was going with the wind and was quite frustrating to deal with. Coming inside, everything settled down a little bit more."
Calderwood led the entire way in the super tiebreaker, winning 10-6 to pick up the singles victory. Bull said she was happy with the way Thompson and Calderwood played in the super tiebreakers.
"We haven't been pushed to play many of those because we've been in a lot of close matches," she said. "We actually played them very well."
The Cardinals' next match is Saturday, when they play host to Miami University.
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